Rights activists seek stiffer line on Myanmar

Kerry set to visit as persecution on Muslims rises

Share via e-mail

Muzafar Jalil, who lives in Nashua, is a member of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar that faces increased persecution by Buddhist extremists.

By Jessica Meyers
Globe Staff
August 07, 2014

WASHINGTON — Muzafar Jalil connects to his Burmese past through blurry photos of a son he never saw grow up and a granddaughter he may never meet. He calls to bridge the distance — and to ensure they’re still alive.

The 63-year-old Nashua resident imagined a reunion with his family when Myanmar embarked on democratic reforms in 2011 and opened its doors to the outside world for the first time in half a century.

He and his family are among the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in the Southeast Asian nation that faces increased persecution by Buddhist extremists. The United Nations estimates more than 86,000 Rohingya have fled the country since violent attacks began two years ago and about 140,000 remain trapped in squalid internment camps. The situation has clouded the country’s democratic efforts and spurred comparisons to genocide. It also has become a point of contention ahead of a visit this weekend by Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

The debate pits advocates who demand a stronger response to human rights concerns — including Representative Jim McGovern of Worcester — against analysts who urge a more delicate dance of diplomacy.

“The administration can do more on this issue,” McGovern said. “As we tie a nice bow on what we call a success story, we need to make sure we aren’t a cheap date when it comes to human rights.”

The congressman helped spearhead a congressional letter to Kerry last week that warned conditions in Myanmar had taken “a sharp turn for the worse” and urged more restrictive measures, such as targeted sanctions. More than 70 lawmakers signed on, including all House members from Massachusetts. The Worcester congressman pushed a separate resolution through the House in May that highlighted the Rohingya’s plight, a move he labeled a “friendly reminder” for the White House.

Florida Republican Marco Rubio, ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that reviews relations with Myanmar, asked Kerry on Thursday to confront issues thwarting its democratic progress. Rubio, in a letter co-written by Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, called the government’s failure to stop the violence “unacceptable” and instructed him to meet with just as many people outside leadership.

Kerry heads to Myanmar for the first time this Saturday to attend regional meetings with his Southeast Asian counterparts. He intends to focus on tensions over the South China Sea but also will sit down with senior Burmese officials in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s shiny new capital. His predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, made diplomatic relations with the country a significant goal of her tenure and visited it on several occasions.

Administration officials have offered broad critiques of anti-Muslim discrimination, even if they have avoided harsh rebuke.

“I can anticipate that Secretary Kerry will press Burma’s leaders as he and the president have done, to protect and to respect the rights of all the people in the country and to put in place greater safeguards for their human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Daniel Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said this week.

But it remains unclear just how far Kerry will go in his criticism toward a country often framed as one of the administration’s few foreign policy successes.

“We need to be cautious about wanting to speed it up and going out and making very strong and aggressive statements,’’ said Joseph Liow, Southeast Asia studies chair at the Brookings Institution’s Center for East Asia Policy Studies. “Of course it satisfies domestic audiences in the US and lawmakers would be happy. But beyond political points for making such statements, how does that help the problem we are trying to shed light on?”

Many of the country’s 1.3 million Rohingya now live in makeshift huts on the poor western coast, far from the first indoor shopping malls and luxury condominiums. The Burmese government, which refers to Rohingya as “Bengalis,” classifies the ethnic minority as illegal immigrants and refuses to grant them citizenship.

“If Kerry is going to visit, then he needs to address the fact that the plight of the Rohingya has not gotten better,” said Daniel Sullivan, the policy director for United to End Genocide, a Washington-based organized dedicated to ending mass atrocities. “It’s gotten worse.”

Joanne Rathe/Globe staff

Muzafar Jalil’s two sons, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, who are still in Myanmar. The 63-year-old Nashua resident calls to bridge the distance — and to ensure they’re still alive.

The Myanmar embassy did not respond to requests for comment. But Burmese officials have pointed to tremendous changes, such as press freedoms and democratic elections.

Beginning around 2010, military leaders from Myanmar, once one of the world’s most repressive regimes, started to distance themselves from China and North Korea. Generals freed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, released hundreds of political prisoners, and welcomed investment from Western businesses.

Clinton arrived as the first senior US official in 50 years to visit the country — strategically positioned between China and India. President Obama became the first sitting president to step onto Myanmar’s soil.

A parliamentary committee in June voted against a change in the constitution that would have allowed Suu Kyi to run for office in next year’s pivotal elections. The government is considering a law that would require permission from authorities to change religions.

Change can’t come soon enough for Jalil, who has not returned to Myanmar since he fled three decades ago. Burma Task Force USA, an organization set up last year to assist Burmese Muslims, counts about 600 Rohingya in the Unites States. Jalil, along with 20 other Rohingya families, now calls Nashua his home.

My family “is in homes but they cannot go even to the market,” he said, because they fear attacks. “Like an open prison.”

Jalil considers Kerry’s visit a small window of hope. “If the situation changes,” he said, “then maybe I can go to see them.”

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.

Thanks & Welcome to Globe.com

You now have unlimited access for the next two weeks.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.